


Clothing Optional

by Cade Welentine (cadewelentine)



Series: The MA College AU that Nobody Asked For [1]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Nudity, Pining, Public Nudity, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 13:33:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11441943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadewelentine/pseuds/Cade%20Welentine
Summary: Mendel gains confidence for a fleeting moment, but at what cost?





	Clothing Optional

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with ANOTHER Falsettos fic bc I'm trash for this fandom. This one takes place in a silly AU my friend Ryker and I came up with, where all 6 of the adults go to MA colleges. It's not too important for this fic, but for reference: Mendel goes to Hampshire, Trina goes to Amherst, Marvin's at MCLA (bc Ryker begged), Whizzer's at MassArt, Charlotte goes to Harvard (bc of course she does), and Cordelia's at BU in the culinary program. 
> 
> In this AU, I imagine they're all friends from high school/childhood, and they have big group video chats at least once a week.
> 
> Please enjoy, and leave me some kudos and comments if you do! <3

“I’m sorry, you live on _what_?” Trina’s voice is shrill, and Mendel can’t help but wince a bit. Whizzer and Cordelia are laughing, and the sound keeps cutting in and out weird, which only makes Trina’s “what” more grating.

“The nude floor.” Mendel repeats, his voice softer than a mumble. Whizzer’s laughing gets louder, and Mendel briefly considers kicking him out of the chat, but doing so means losing Cordelia and Charlotte too, and he really needs some words of encouragement from the level-headed lesbians.

“How did you even end up there?” Marvin asks.

“On my housing form it was listed as the ‘clothing optional’ floor,” Mendel explains. “And I thought that meant, y’know, that you’d get to pick out your own clothes instead of, like, wearing a uniform.”

“Oh my god.” Whizzer snorts. “Oh my _god_.”

“Shut up.” Mendel huffs, his face growing hot. “I spent my whole life in private school, how was I supposed to know clothing optional wasn’t having clothing _options_.”

“Men,” Whizzer starts, and Mendel rolls his eyes, because god forbid Whizzer use someone’s full name. “You’re downright WASPy.”

“Whizzer, he’s more Jewish than you.” Marvin points out.

“Hey, hey, Marv?” Whizzer starts.

“Yeah?”

“Did I _ask_?”

Charlotte sighs. “Children, please.”

“Are you going to move?” Trina asks. Her voice has already taken on the tone of a Jewish mother of three, even though she’s an unmarried college freshman.

“If I do that, everyone will think I’m a prude.” Mendel says.

“But you _are_ a prude.” Whizzer points out.

Charlotte sighs again. “Whizzer, leave him alone.”

“Anyway, the people are nice enough,” Mendel continues. “Even if they are naked. And it’s not like _I_ have to be naked. I can wear all the clothes I want, and I want to remain clothed, generally speaking. Plus, I have a single, so I don’t even have to deal with a naked roommate.”

“I guess that’s good.” Trina says, but in her little bubble, Mendel can see that her lips are drawn in a thin, worried line.

“I’m fine.” He assures everyone. “I’m just a little surprised, is all.”

“Well, who wouldn’t be?” Marvin asks.

Whizzer chimes in with “People who understood the phrase ‘clothing optional’.” Mendel sees Cordelia flick the back of his head; Mendel grins.

“How is school aside from the nudity?” Cordelia asks.

“It’s fine.” Mendel says. “How about you guys?”

“I hate our mascot; I don’t know any self-respecting girl who would willingly wear ‘Mammoth’ across her chest.” Trina sighs, twirling a lock of dark brown hair around her finger. “And I miss my boyfriend.” Mendel winces again at that statement.

“I miss you too, Trin.” Marvin replies rather noncommittally. For a split second, Mendel thinks he sees Whizzer make a face, but it’s gone just as soon as it registers, and he assumes he imagined it.

“I’m learning a lot!” Cordelia chirps. “And Whizzer’s taking pictures of _everything_.”

“I’ve had to buy _three_ new SD cards since we got here.” Whizzer supplies.

Cordelia goes on. “Charlotte’s working herself too hard, but what else is new?” Somewhere in the background, Charlotte makes a noise of dissent.

“You all are lucky.” Marvin says absently. “You can visit each other. I’m out here in the middle of nowhere, all alone.”

“Mendel and I are in the middle of nowhere too.” Trina says. “Not like the other three.”

“Hey, you guys could have come to Boston too.” Whizzer says. “Not our fault you chose other schools.” But Mendel is caught up in the fact that he can visit Trina; the idea hadn’t occurred to him before, but now that it’s been mentioned, it seems like the most obvious thing in the world. He imagines, briefly, taking her for dinner, sweeping her off her feet and showing her how much better off she’d be with him; the thought is gone almost as quickly as it appeared.

Trina _loves_ Marvin.

* * *

 

Even though he knows he can’t sweep her off her feet, Mendel visits Trina anyway. He likes her, and he’s okay with being just her friend. She’s smart and funny when she wants to be. He goes most weekends, hopping on the bus on campus and riding it into Amherst center. Sometimes he meets her at a coffee shop, sometimes he meets her at her dorm. Trina’s room is exactly how he imagines it should be; everything is neat and clean and matches. It looks like the picture of a dorm in a Bed, Bath, & Beyond catalogue. It suits her. Her walls are decorated with pictures, mostly of her and Marvin, one of her and Whizzer in face masks, a few with Cordelia, one with Charlotte--they’re doing handstands in that one. He’s not in any of the ones on the wall, and he’s a little jealous. But he _is_ in a frame on her night stand. The picture is of the two of them at graduation, and there’s nothing really remarkable or special about it. The picture could be of Trina and _anyone_. But it’s not. It’s of Trina and Mendel, and Mendel’s heart races when he considers that _she_ considers it important enough to be in a frame. He wonders why. He doesn’t ask.

Mendel makes a point to always be the one to visit Trina, rather than the other way around, because he wants her to be comfortable, and she seemed so very uncomfortable with the idea of the clothing optional floor existing that he couldn’t imagine she’d feel comfortable visiting it. And Trina’s never hinted at coming to see him at school anyway.

So when Mendel texts her that he won’t be coming out that weekend, he assumes that’s the end of it, and that he’ll see her next weekend or next time all of them Skype.

He doesn’t specify _why_ he won’t be coming out to see her that weekend. Frankly, he doesn’t think she’d want to know. More frankly, he doesn’t think he wants her to know. That’s because he’s finally going to try the _other_ clothing option his floor offers.

It’s only taken most of the semester for him to become comfortable with the idea. He reasons that everyone else on this floor is comfortable being naked around each other, so why shouldn’t he? It’s not a particularly judgmental group either, so he figures it’s probably the safest place for him to let someone else see him naked for the first time.

So Mendel strips out of his sweater and jeans in his room. He hooks his fingers under the waistband of his boxers, but pauses there for a moment. He suddenly has the weirdest sense that he shouldn’t do this now. He chalks it up to nerves and slips out of his underwear. With a deep breath, Mendel opens his door and steps into the hall.

Chuck, who lives in the room across from him, sees him first.

“Look who finally decided to join the party.” He teases good-naturedly. Chuck is like a much nicer version of Whizzer, Mendel thinks.

“I figured I had to try it some time, right?” Mendel replies. He feels good. Better than he expected to, if he’s being completely honest. Sarah, who lives down the hall, sees him, and he waves at her. Who knew all Mendel had to lose to gain his confidence was his clothes?

Mendel doesn’t know why he turns when he hears the elevator ding. He does know he regrets it immensely. Because when the doors slide open, the person standing there is the absolute _last_ person he wants to see right now:  
Trina.

She’s got a pastry box tucked under one arm, and her hair is done up in that half-up style that Mendel really likes, and she’s wearing a skirt that’s relatively short (at least, compared to what she normally wears), and she’s _beautiful_. And Mendel can’t help _that_ \--so the situation only gets _worse_.

“I’ll come back!” Trina cries, frantically pressing the ‘door close button’.

Mendel can already hear Whizzer laughing, a hundred miles away.


End file.
